Flawed Design
by Feline Scribbler
Summary: No matter what you do, no matter what you try, someone's gonna lose, someone's gonna die. Living with these odds make him stronger. Oneshot. T for blood/death scenes. Review for me?


_A bit OOC for Scourge at the end, but hey, it's a fanfiction. I need reviews guys. almost 50 people read this and I've only got one review. Back me up?__  
_

_-Rai Kamizu  
_

* * *

_When I was a young boy  
I was honest and I had more self-control  
If I was tempted I would  
Run  
Then when I got older I began to lie  
To get exactly  
What I wanted, when I wanted it  
And I wanted it_

The sun was just overlooking the thick, heavily blended ash-gray clouds. Another dark day. Scourge, once a cat called Tiny, blinked his ice blue eyes open, shaking his out leaf-thin black pelt. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the stretch of forest and the Twoleg fence from his perch on the rooftop in the city. He saw his old Twoleg nest, then the scrap of the forest he explored, and the place near his attack.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the painful memory. The ebony-pelted tom raised a paw to prod at the single dog tooth embedded in the leather fabric, then brush the wad of stringy dog fur buried under the half-shredded purple material. He wished he was at the bottom of the river, his body churning helplessly against the growing greenish blue tides of death. Instead, he was leading a "Clan" of blood-hungry cats. He _was _still a kit, but it didn't matter to Bone and Brick, two massive, scarred felines who had ran a group of cats in the system of alleys, before they found him swapping lies about dogfighting. He had to confess, having power was something he dreamed of.

Speaking of dreams, he had the occurrence of the dream again, the vision where his somewhat devilish siblings were actually tolerant to him, and his nescient mother paid more attention. He shrugged, ignoring the query that came to mind. It was a simple-minded 'what-if' question that everyone knew the answer to. Yet he couldn't keep himself from not asking it. The inner conscience that no one knew was repeating it again and again, Ruby and Socks teasing him about the universal answer. He closed his eyes, calling out to the inner morals that haunted his nightmares.

'Wouldn't everything be better if I was bigger? Wouldn't my dear old mother love me, and my demonic siblings play with me? Would my father still be here, teaching me to hunt and defend myself, and I would have a family instead of cats who wallow in pain and death like a bunch of starved rats who can't get enough of what they want?'

'No, because you'll always be the puny runt you are now. Nothing would ever change. The fact that you couldn't fight back against your siblings makes you weak...'

He snarled, flexing his claws. 'I'm not small! I'm big enough to tear the throats out of any cat, be it kit or Clan leader! I'm not afraid of fighting back, because this is what I've chosen.'

His eyes flew open, thinking about the words he recited in his head before they dissolved away.

This is what I've chosen...

_Now I'm having trouble differentiating  
Between what I want  
And what I need to make me  
Happy  
So instead of thinking  
I just act before I have a chance to  
Contemplate the consequence of  
Action_

Scourge blinked once more, watching the cat below him cower with fear under the dominating gazes of Bone and Brick. He turned his nose up. The glacial azure stare pierced the she-cat below him and made her want to melt into the pavement. It was a long while since he had last had the dream of his kin, so his heart was no longer warmed like a kit by its mother. No, his heart had iced over solid with hostility, his blood pumping with liquid frost. The only cure he had was that of red. Thick, viscous red. Blood red. Bubbling... swirling, lapping... consuming him and everything around–

"So, Mr. Scourge, sir, that's why I believe the corner in the alleyway is my place. Not his, sir."

The black tom rolled his icy eyes, muffling a sigh. It was hard being rotten to the core if these cats were so mouse-brained. He sat up taller and bushed out his fur, trying to look commanding. He didn't even know why this helpless cat would want such a terrible place anyway. It was in plain sight, yet a few of nature's tasty pests were trying to hoard the spot. But it seemed that another cat had moved in, and the first cat wanted it back. But whatever, it was his final decision to make.

Scourge cleared his throat, nodding to the second cat, whose name was Adder. "You must move out of Lily's alley corner, or you will be hunted down and killed." Scourge swiped the air with his dog's teeth claws for effect, watching as the tom shrank lower. He turned to the shecat, who immediately bowed her head under his view. "Lily, do not come back to me with any problems until three full moons have passed. You have your own place, so you must defend it on your own. Dismissed."

It was like it always was, solve or kill, solve or kill, it was the way the BloodClan judgement went.

The two cats moved away, until a very scraggy queen took up the spot. A kitten peeked from behind her, then was shoved forward by its mother. "Scourge, I am Chervil, and this is Hawthorn. I live behind a Twoleg wall, and it is difficult to care for us as a couple. I wish for you to either take this kitten as a BloodClan warrior, or, provide food for us and we will become more faithful to you than any other cat. I do not wish to know the circumstance if you take him and you can do whatever to him. He is yours if you choose. But if any cat except you lays a claw on him, I will flay that cat. This kit may be yours, but he will always stay mine."

Scourge blinked. Fire raged in the white shecat's green eyes, so he leaped from the graffiti-splashed dumpster. Resting his elongated claws on the kit's head, he nicked its left ear long and deep in one swift flick. Blood spattered the ground as the kitten whined and pawed furiously at his new wound. The mother held her gasp in quietly as the kit's eyes glistened. She shuffled backwards over the asphalt. The black tom purred like silk, leaning down to meet the tom-kit eye to eye. "How old are you, young one?"

"I-I'm six moons." He stuttered, licking his white paws furiously as he tried to erase incurable damage.

"Good, good. You know how to fight?"

"Sorta kinda, maybe a little." He mumbled half to himself, trying to avoid the freezing gaze of ice blue.

Scourge stood, the swept his tail to Bone and Brick. "Find this kit a mentor. I want Hawthorn to be a ruthless killer by the time he can make his own offspring. If he disobeys, you have my order to kill him."

His lackeys nodded, eyes hungry for kit blood. Chervil slunk backwards more, then dashed away in guilt, not bothering to turn as Hawthorn cried out. "Mama! Come back for me! You said you always would! I don't want this! Mama! Mama, please!"

Scourge whipped around, eyes alight with blue flames. The little tabby tom's jaws fell open in a silent plea with fur on end. The BloodClan leader shrieked with insane delight, sending cats in the crowd swarming. "Your mother is never coming back. She lied! We are your kin now, Hawthorn, and you shall accept this. Welcome to BloodClan!" Swiping his claws, he caught the kit on the nose. Hawthorn shrieked and scurried away into the system of alleys, his paws sending up dust clouds. Shadows seized the alley whole, throwing themselves on the black tom's face. Scourge sat calmly as Bone padded up to his side.

"Fetch him. So I can kill him."

_And I will turn off  
And I will shut down  
The chemicals are restless in my  
Head  
Cause I lie  
Not because I want to  
But I seem to need to  
All the time_

Night was rapidly falling. Bone had returned with the limp body of Hawthorn in his jaws, and Brick came back with Chervil; both of them were standing behind a growing crowd. The queen gasped in horror as she saw her cherished, only kit hanging dead in the massive tom's jaws. Shoving past a line of battle-scarred warriors, she came to the body of her kit. "Hawthorn! Oh, my precious kit! Scourge!" She rounded on her leader, growling ferociously. "What have you done?"

The black tom calmly licked a paw, inspected it, then leaped from his perch. The cats suddenly fell silent. Rarely did the king ever step from his throne when challenged. He purred then smiled, showing red-tipped teeth. He ran his tongue over his jaws to catch more of the kit's blood. "I killed him."

Chervil yowled viciously, bowling him over. Cats from behind started to slink forward under an involuntary influence to protect their leader. "Why?!" She shrieked in his face with the rage of any queen.

The black-furred tom took the time to stare into her spring green eyes. He saw so much reflected in them. Fury, ruefulness, shame. It was purely overwhelming. In the back of his mind he knew that Quince would discriminate her kit harshly if she were here. Not to mention Ruby and Socks. Scourge easily swiped her away, scoring marks into her throat. Socks, Ruby and Quince weren't here to tell him what to do. "So he wouldn't break the rules."

Chervil let out a guttural cry, blood gurgling from her throat. She staggered to the body of Hawthorn with extreme difficulty; she had the weight of death to bear alone. With each word she formed, red bubbled at her lips. "Hawthorn... I'm here... for you..." Chervil's eyes rolled to the back of her head as she toppled forward, her neck a bloody mass of white fur.

Scourge turned to the crowd of cats, flattening his ears and bushing out his fur. He kicked Chervil's chilling body viciously, then struck Hawthorn, sending the kit's body skidding across the clearing. "From now on, any kits born must be raised as fighters, then abandoned at the age of twelve moons. If they are willing or not, then they will become warriors of BloodClan, or be killed."

He faced Bone and Brick, who stood motionless from the quarrel. "I want every BloodClan warrior with a tooth-studded collar." The black-furred tom raised his head. "Pledge your allegiance to me, to us!"

The cats below roared in agreement. "Allegiance to BloodClan! Allegiance to BloodClan!"

"Yes! Your commitment belongs to me! I am the leader of BloodClan, and no cat will ever step up to me." He jumped onto the forest-green dumpster, hooking his claws into the rubbery top. Cold fire lit his eyes. His leadership was becoming a dictatorship. The orb of ice in his heart seeped through the darkened layers, flowing into his blood. "I will know of everything. Any kit born, any cat killed, any cat visiting, anything, anyplace, anytime. If some cat wishes to speak up now, prepare to die."

Scourge swept his eyes over the crowd, noticing as none of them stepped forward. Cowards, maybe. Warriors, definitely. He growled. Stiffening his back, the raven tom waved his tail to his two cronies.

"Bone and Brick are my deputies. They will be treated with respect as equal as your respect for me. No cats will live together unless you have a mate and kits. The elderly must fend for themselves, or else they will suffer hard and long. Are there any requests?"

All the cats rose to their paws. "No, Scourge!"

The black tom stood, fur bristling. "Who is your leader?"

"You, Scourge!"

"What are you here for?" His eyes held a wild light as he cackled loudly. He swept his tail around, pacing up and down the top of the dumpster.

"A taste of blood! A taste of blood! A taste of blood!"

Scourge yowled over the chants, staring at the claw-scratch moon. The ice in his blood flowed faster and faster. "Any cat who tries to face me must pay the price of death!

"BloodClan will triumph!"

_Yea I lie  
And I don't even know it  
Maybe this is all a part of my  
Flawed design_

Scourge looked up at the cowering mass of pale orange tabby fur, letting his tail swish happily as Snake and Ice crept up to their sister, Violet. Not much had happened in BloodClan since Scourge made the rules and killed that kit and his mother. A few new warriors were recruited, and all remained loyal.

Bone shoved Barley backwards, snapping his jaws shut in the empty air by his ear. His sharp teeth clacked loudly, which made the black and white tom skitter back a few pawsteps. "Scourge, please!"

The raven leader bared his teeth. Snake and Ice advanced onto Violet, making her shiver and press herself flat to the chilling, frost-slicked cardboard box. "This is what we do to cats who break the rules."

"No! Leave her alone! Fight me, if you must! She's done no harm!" His breaths were frantic as he entered a state of shock, words tumbling from his lips incoherently.

Scourge's lips curled into a grim smile. "It's true. You are the one who tried to leave BloodClan. You are the one who must be punished… and what better punishment could there be… Than for you to watch your sister die right in front of you."

Scourge glanced at Bone and the group of cats gathered. They wanted blood, so blood they would receive.

"Violet, as punishment for your heinous crimes against the law of BloodClan, you will suffer the consequences of your actions by paying the price of immediate death!"

The ginger tabby looked down at her leader with fear-stricken eyes as her fur stood straight up. "Oh, please, please Scourge! No!"

The black-furred tom shrugged, raising his paw, then swiped the air. Oh, yes. His warriors would complete this task and taste the blood they've always wanted. "Snake! Ice! Finish this!"

Snake leaped on Violet, biting her shoulder and bowling her on her back. Ice raised his dog-tooth studded paw, swinging it down as the cats behind chanted and cheered with malice in a deranged fashion. Violet gave a screech as his claws buried themselves into her throat and slashed down to her tail. Barley yowled and writhed under Bone. The black and white BloodClan deputy clashed Barley's head to the concrete ground. Barley's eyes fluttered shut, watching a tide pool of red flow around Scourge's paws.

"Violet... Violet... No..."

_Ever since I figured out that  
I could control other people  
I've had trouble sleeping with both  
Eyes closed  
And if I asked permission  
If I make sure it's ok  
I'd promise 'I won't slip up this time  
You can trust me_

Scourge slitted his eyes as the massive tabby stood in front of him. "Oh, Boulder. You've finally returned. Why slither back to me now when prey is plentiful in the forest?" He tipped his head to one side. "Are you betraying your forest Clan?"

The scrawny gray tom shrank to to ground. "No, Scourge. This is a cat from the forest. He has a way to make you take over there."

_The massive tabby merely nodded, amber eyes burning. In a sudden rush, Scourge was plunged into the past, and he saw it all again. He was a piteous kit, blood soaking his raven pelt. A spiky gray and white was goading on the tabby. 'Show it your teeth, Tigerpaw.' A shecat was standing over him, protecting him from the molten amber gaze of the tabby. 'Stop it, Tigerpaw, that's enough!' The tabby, Tigerpaw, sneered as Tiny slithered away backwards. 'You'll never forget me! Will you?!'_

Scourge shook his head roughly, clearing his mind. This was Tigerpaw? No, Boulder was mumbling 'Tigerstar'. Strange. But this was his chance to enact revenge.

"I am Tigerstar, leader of TigerClan. And I have a proposition for you." The tiger-striped tom shoved Boulder aside to stand in front of the apprentice-sized leader. "I have enemies in the forest, and they banished me from their Clan, ThunderClan. I was once the deputy, a respected cat, until another with flame-colored fur and eyes the color of a greenleaf forest by the name of Firestar came and had me exiled. I want revenge on these cats or they will kill me beforehand." Tigerstar took a dramatic pause for Scourge's response.

Scourge shifted his head to the other side. "Our territory in the city is becoming more and more crowded with the warriors of BloodClan. Extra territory in the woods would never hurt." The black tom held his head up and nodded. "BloodClan will accompany you to the forest."

Tigerstar gave a grim nod and hooked his terrifyingly long talons into the ground. "The thanks of TigerClan go with you. I have set up a meeting at Fourtrees with the other leaders to join my Clan or else we will wage war."

Scourge's icy eyes slitted. _'And my revenge will be complete. The moment is nearing.'_

_But never take advice from someone  
Who just admitted to being devious  
Who just confessed to  
Treason  
And I will also never ask a question  
That I cannot ask myself for it might  
Dirty up your  
Conscience_

Tigerstar whirled around to face Scourge. He gave an earsplitting screech as he leapt to the BloodClan leader. "Traitor!"

The raven cat watched him with arctic blue eyes and whipped to one side. As the massive tabby landed, Scourge lashed out with one paw to unbalance his former partner. The dog teeth on his claws glinted unnaturally in the leaf-bare sun as they raked Tigerstar's shoulder. The tabby made the horrible mistake of revealing his belly; Scourge wouldn't back down now.

Ice blue met molten amber as claws met flesh. Scourge's reinforced claws had already sank into Tigerstar's throat, and to the gasps of the Clan cats, ripped themselves free from neck to tail-tip. In horror, Tigerstar gave a horrible gurgling sound as blood flowed in a maroon tide, washing the grass in a red coating.

"Tigerstar!" One cat whispered to break the oncoming silence. But it wasn't enough. Tigerstar's screeches rang in the hollow, much like music to Scourge's ears; almost like a twisted lullaby, it sent him into a sick trance where all he knew was blood, death and destruction.

The tom spasmed again and again, until finally, he lay still in a pool of his own blood. Scourge raised a blood-soaked paw and gave it a lick. His eyes stared at the flame-colored tom with emerald eyes. Firestar's eyes were glazed in horror, much to Scourge's triumph. "You have three days to decide to leave the forest forever. On the fourth day, you shall give me your decision or perish in battle. Your friend here, tried to use us. We shall not be pushed around ever again. BloodClan will triumph!"

And with a sweep of his tail, the cats with the tooth-studded collars bounded away into the bushes.

_Cause I lie  
Not because I want to  
But I seem to need to  
All the time  
Yea I lie  
And I don't even know it  
Maybe this is all a part of my  
Flawed design_

Claws parted fur from flesh and flesh from bone as a river of red ran as a prize. Scourge shredded the white tom's spine with back paws until he begged for mercy under him. Without heeding the pleas, he held his scruff in his sharp teeth and slammed the cloudy tom to the ground. A flash of flame-colored fur glinted at the edge of his vision. Firestar! Leaping off the bloody tom, the BloodClan leader stared at his foe hungrily. "You– I _killed _you."

The response sent his head whirling. "You did. But I have the nine lives of a true leader, granted by StarClan."

Scourge cackled. His voice sounded like claws scraping ice. "StarClan? A kit's tale. I'll shred you to bits like I did Tigerstar." The look in Firestar's eye made him hesitate a half heartbeat. He would win. The forest was BloodClan's to take!

The black tom leaped at the flame tom, digging his claws in his back with a screech. Firestar rolled over on Scourge, blasting the breath from the latter. The ThunderClan leader jumped away nimbly. Scourge raised a paw to try and deliver a death blow, but StarClan was on the Clan cat's side. He slipped out of the way and buried his teeth in the smaller tom's neck. The raven tom quivered as the thorn-sharp bones crushed his windpipe. Firestar leaped from his enemy, watching in cold contempt. "The forest was never yours, Scourge. It will always belong to the four Clans below and StarClan above. Our warrior ancestors guide us on the path to triumph. LionClan is victorious!"

The ebony tom's vision blurred to little more than colors and shapes. Bone was lying on the ground, defeated and dead, while his warriors scrambled away. Brick dashed into the bushes in fear with the rest of BloodClan.

BloodClan was no more. Scourge was no more.

Everything was an illusion to the past, a happening of the present, and a memory of the future.

Scourge turned his eyes to Silverpelt and smiled painfully. His destiny was finally fulfilled.

_And I will turn off  
And I will shut down  
Burying the voices of my  
Conscience in the ground  
And I will turn off  
And I will shut down  
The chemicals are restless in my  
Head_

Bright and dark. Heat and chill. Push and pull. Float and fall. Polar opposites crashed around him, then soothed like Quince's warm voice. Ground rushed to meet him and light teased his eyes open. He was in the Fourtrees hollow, but all was empty. The grass glittered with dewdrops and starlight brimmed the lip of the hollow. Suddenly, a warrior of StarClan leaped into the great dip, leading countless others in a race to the middle.

Scourge flinched away from the overwhelming light; it was difficult considering he was surrounded by it. A figure formed from the glittering starlight to shape a cat. In awe, his mother Quince stepped and touched noses with him.

"Scourge, my Tiny. Your path has been a difficult one, yet you have walked it without regret and caused pain and trouble for all the Clans."

He bowed his head deeply, suddenly regretting everything he did. "I do regret it! I want to take it back! I want it all gone." He turned his glistening eyes upwards and spat out his words. "I know it was wrong, but I snapped! No one loved me like you loved my sister and brother. StarClan is cruel for letting me do this!"

"Oh Tiny, my precious kit. StarClan is real, and watches over every cat here. They will give you the chance you deserve. I'm always watching you, for I'll always love you."

She stepped back and a majestic blue-furred warrior took her place. With a silver-tinged muzzle, a battle scarred pelt and sparkling blue eyes, Scourge flinched away from her power. She spoke with all the voices he hated and loved. "Scourge, BloodClan's ruthless leader, you are sentenced to an eternity of peace, in one of StarClan's greatest hunting grounds. Your heart has truly spoken, and you are condemned as one of the greatest warriors in your time.

"I call upon our warrior ancestors to look down on this cat. He has lived a difficult life, and for that I wish to honor him with a warrior name. Scourge, do you promise to live here in StarClan until the end of time, to watch your kin live and grow, even at the cost of your eternal life?"

Something inside him burst as he murmured. "I do."

The shecat touched her nose to his head. "Scourge, you are now named Ravenfeather. May StarClan light your path. Always."

_Cause I lie  
Not because I want to  
But I seem to need to  
All the time  
Yea I lie  
And I don't even know it  
Maybe this is all a part of my  
Flawed design_

**That is the story of my death. Young kits, you shouldn't be here much longer. My realm isn't one for you to stay. What's that? Why was I so cold-hearted? Because it was my only option. If I couldn't have power I would take it by force. I waded through blood because it was what I loved.**

**The last thing I saw before I died was me in a river of sticky red, and a white feather with a blood spatter twirled above my head. It was my most prized possession as a kit, my first trophy from my first prey.**

**And now, I give my final words to all I knew.**

**Socks and Ruby. I remember how they annoy me. They did once adore me. But when we grew up, their hostility grew. When they came crawling back to me later on in life, I sent them away. They were finally the weak ones. Ruby, Socks, wherever you are, lead a life you will never regret.**

**Quince did love me, but didn't pay attention to me. She always thought that Socks and Ruby were better because they showed off more and that they were bigger. Size may have always mattered. But, Mama, please remember me for the sweet kit I once was.**

**Bone and Brick, my loyal deputies, fought with me through the final battle. Bone has already passed my land of death, but for Brick? I cannot see her destiny through the mist. She might be alive, or in another deathly realm. Wherever they lurk, they will always see me in their cold hearts.**

**Barley and Violet, please forgive me for the pain I've caused. It wasn't just for me. It was for show. If I couldn't show my warriors how to wade in blood, then what would my precious Clan be? Violet is alive and well, Barley. I will watch over you both.**

**Tigerstar, the blood-hungry cat who begged me to help him. You are rotting in the realm of the Dark Forest, and you deserve it for your crimes. But, then I do as well. I hope you face your destiny with open paws, because one day you will.**

**The flame-colored one with emerald eyes, my half-brother. I never knew you, but one day we will meet again. I'll wait for you to come back.**

**Those are my final words to all I loved and hated. I give final words to myself, before I must leave.**

**I am Scourge, leader of BloodClan. And my flawed design led to my death. I was once an ignored kit, but then a bloody leader. I now walk a path alone, but that's all I need to learn from my mistakes in life. I bid you farewell, for our time is gone. Thank you for taking time to listen to my horrendous story. It's not everyday that young ones like you come to see me. I may not be the average tom, but now I have the time to be.**

With that, Ravenfeather plucked the dog teeth from his claws and raised his hind paw to his collar. Digging his back claws in the half-shredded purple leather, he gave a massive shove and the tooth-studded collar snapped in two. The former leader shook out his pelt. "It feels good to have the wind on my neck fur." The black tom turned to the small grove of trees and the winding river that washed from over the lip of the valley.

"My new home." He turned his head to the blue-violet sky, staring at the full milky moon. The stars to him were chips of ice from his shattered heart, finally separated and starting anew. He gathered his red-stained trinkets and padded to the edge of the water. Rolling a smooth stone over with his paw to reveal a small hole, he dumped the collar and teeth into the shallow opening. Scourge rolled the stone back over the opening.

His eyes glowed with pride as he leaped over the river surrounding the island copse. He turned his eyes to the stars, feeling warmth seep into his pelt. This was his new life now. His eternal time in Silverpelt until the celestial spirits called him again.

_I never believed in StarClan, but the day I died, the stars shone brighter than I've ever seen._


End file.
